Home >> Your Questions About Genetic Engineering >> Given that glyphosate is lipid soluble - and knowing it's really only ingested by humans through GM foods - how much of an impact would you say it has on the obesity epidemic? It is a known fact that PCB's (Monsanto) are highly toxic and found in measura

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QGiven that glyphosate is lipid soluble - and knowing it's really only ingested by humans through GM foods - how much of an impact would you say it has on the obesity epidemic? It is a known fact that PCB's (Monsanto) are highly toxic and found in measura

Question submitted By: SaveMyFood

Given that glyphosate is lipid soluble - and knowing it's really only ingested by humans through GM foods - how much of an impact would you say it has on the obesity epidemic? It is a known fact that PCB's (Monsanto) are highly toxic and found in measurable amounts in the fatty tissues of most people today. My concern is the effect of these toxins on the body when the fat that contains glyphosate is being metabolized. It SHOULD make you feel terrible and your body will launch a response that will slow, if not stop, weight loss in an attempt to avoid damage to organ tissue. Most of my fellow Americans are overweight enough as it is. If they're inundating their already ample supply of fat with toxins (what convenience food doesn't contain GM corn or soy these days?), do they stand a chance to metabolize that fat through exercise without harming vital organs?

It is a common misunderstanding that pesticides, in general, accumulate in body fat. While this phenomenon may occur with some older compounds and a very few compounds currently in use, pesticides that bioaccumulate to any significant degree have been removed from use or are highly restricted to specialized applications needs that limit environmental exposures. Glyphosate is structurally related to the amino acid (protein component) glycine and is readily soluble in water, as demonstrated by the fact that you can buy water-based formulations containing as much as 62% glyphosate salts in agricultural formulations. If ingested, glyphosate is excreted rapidly, does not accumulate in body fat or tissues, and does not undergo metabolism in humans. Rather, it is excreted unchanged in the urine (EU Review Report of the active substance glyphosate, 2002, at: http://ec.europa.eu/food/plant/protection/evaluation/existactive/list1_glyphosate_en.pdf).

The question you have posed is based upon an assumption that is not relevant for glyphosate.

When people refer to Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs), they are referring to precision plant breeding using genetic engineering. It allows plant breeders to take a desirable trait (like resistance to drought, insects, weeds, and disease) from one plant or organism and transfer it to the plant they want to improve, as well as make a change to an existing trait in a plant they are developing. You may have also heard of agricultural biotechnology or biotech seeds.... Read More

An "LMO" (Living Modified Organism) is basically a GMO that is alive and capable of passing on its genes to a subsequent generation. In most situations, the terms LMO and GMO are essentially synonymous, but neither term is really used by most biotechnologists! More on that below.
The term LMO was used in the Cartegena Protocol (basically a big document that came out of an international convention several years ago, more detailed info here.)
The reason we as... Read More

Response from: Professor Drew Kershen, Earl Sneed Centennial Professor of Law (Emeritus), University of Oklahoma, College of Law • on November 15, 2017

Biotechnology as a discipline focuses on understanding molecular biology and has applications in medicine/health, environmental science, industrial products and agriculture. Biotechnology is widely used in all these sectors. I will focus my answer on agricultural biotechnology.
In many countries (e.g., Brazil, Canada, India, and the United States) a significant amount of agricultural research, especially basic research in molecular biology, is conducted by governmental agricultural... Read More

About the Expert

I am a pediatrician and clinical toxicologist. In my fifteen-plus years at Monsanto, my focus has been on assuring the safety of all of our products – GM and conventional seed, as well as chemical – for our workers, for farmers and for the general public.